A SOCIAL club for blind and partially sighted people in Newport could close within months unless new volunteers are found to take over the running of the group.

The Eton Road Visually Impaired People (or VIP) Club, funded by Gwent Association for the Blind, has been a lifeline for its clients for the last 65 years.

The group meets every week at a community centre in Eton Road, Newport, and provides members, many of whom are elderly and live alone, with a chance to make friends and socialise.

It now faces closure following the retirement of Eve and Alan Williams, a couple in their 70s who had run the group for the last 15 years.

Phyllis Davies and Edna Britton, who are 93-year-old-twins, have attended the club for the last five years. Both are registered partially sighted with hereditary conditions.

Mrs Davies said it would be "dreadful" were the service to be lost. "This is the only time I leave the flat," she said. "I look forward to it every week - it would be very lonely otherwise."

Joyce Turner, 85, of Ridgeway, has been blind since birth. She is the longest-attending member of the club, having started going in 1953.

"It's a lovely club - I love the company and I've made some wonderful friends here," she said.

"I hope it stays open - it would be a real shame if it closed."

Pam Dennis, chief executive of the Gwent Association for the Blind, said it was vital that someone stepped in to help organise the weekly entertainment and days out.

If you would like to volunteer, call the association on 01495 763650.